Point Salines

Only those of us over 40 will remember this, a lonely lighthouse on an imposing cliff edge facing out to sea.

It always seemed at least a mile high when I was a kid on ‘Kim’ sailing past but in fact was only at most 150' high. We'd wave up at all the visitors both locals and tourists, who came to see the view from Grenada's southernmost point.

Amazing green flashes and awesome sunsets, passing yachts, approaching weather fronts and a good vantage point for the annual round-the-island race.

Down to the sea, the cliff face appeared to sink straight below the surface, deeper and deeper into the darkest dark blue, so that when we sailed past we could be so close that we could almost touch the cliff. We’d always ask dad to go yet closer.

There was a lurking danger though.......about 100' off the cliff, a rock lay in wait below the surface at just the right depth. Fine most of the time....but in the trough of the swell and in the wrong spot.....and OUCH!

Many a fine sailor and yacht has located this uncharted delight and several lead keels will have the tell-tale scrapes along their bottoms to prove it.

We were loaded with medical students and their families as charter guests one day. A decent wind blew from behind us and we were flying along on a broad reach doing about 8-9 knots.

Suddenly we stopped flying along and heeled over alarmingly. Time stood still and we wondered fleetingly if we needed to switch on the bilge pumps......Then we gacefully grated over the top and 'Kim' carried on as if nothing had happened.

The lighthouse no longer lives on the cliff edge, and in fact, the cliff no longer exists as it once did, standing tall and proud to be Grenadian.

The lighthouse was moved to the grounds of the airport somewhere, and the point was blasted down to insignificance so as not to cause a hazard to aircraft landing at the airport built out to the point.

Only those of us over 40 would wish that some things like this didn’t have to change.